Lubricating system for sewing machines



A ril 23, 1935. w. MYERS LUBRICATING SYSTEM FOR SEWING MACHINES Original Filed Aug. 4, 1952 Wikne UaZterM w Patented Apr. 23, 1935 UNITED STATES LUBRICATING SYSTEM FOR SEWING MACHINE .2 Walter Myers, Bridgeport Conn., assignor to The Singer Manufacturing Company, Elizabeth,

N. J., acorporation of New Jersey Original application August 4, 1932, SerialN 627,409. Divided and this application May 1933, Serial No. 670,909

2 Claims. (01. 112-256) This invention relates to sewing machine lubricating devices and has for an object to provide for the efficient lubrication of the needlebar and take-up actuating mechanisms of a machine having an upper rotary shaft which is journaled in ball-bearings.

With the above and other objects in view, as will hereinafter appear, the invention comprises the devices, combinations, and arrangements of parts hereinafter set forth and illustrated in the accompanying drawing ofa preferred embodiment of the invention, from which the several features of the invention and the advantages attained thereby will be readily understood by those skilled in the'art.

v Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a sewing machine embodying the invention and Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2-2, Fig. 1.

As described in my copending application, Serial No. 627,409; filed August 4, 1932, of which the present application is a division, the sewing machine in which the invention has been embodied for the purposes of the present disclosure comprises a bed I from which rises the standard 2 of the overhanging bracket-arm 3 terminating in the head 4. As the present improvement is not concerned with the machine bed, further description thereof is deemed unnecessary.

Journaled in ball-bearings 5 and 6, Fig. 1, in the bracket-arm or gooseneck 2, 3, is the mainshaft 1 to the right-hand end of which projecting outside of the gooseneck standard 2 is fixed the clip-belt pulley 8 and driving belt pulley 9 and associated balance-wheel Ill. The ballbearing 5 is seated in the enlarged head II at one end of the bushing |2 which is considerably larger than the. shaft 1 and is formed at its other end with an inwardly extending oil-retaining flange l3. Oil may be supplied to the bushing |2 through the oilhole H. The ball-bearing 6 picks up oil from the supply in the bushing l2. The oil-sling l5 and undercut ball-retaining ring I 6 prevent escape of oil to the pulley 8.

Fixed to the left-hand end of the main-shaft 1 is the crank-arm |1 carrying the hollow crankpin l8 embraced by the upper end of the link IS the lower end of which embraces the hollow lateral pin 20 fixed to the reciprocatory needle-bar 2| carrying two needles 22 arranged abreast in the direction of seam-formation. There is also mounted in the head 4 the usual presser-bar 23 carrying the presser-foot 24. A needle-thread take-up lever 25 is fulcrumed at 26 in the head 4 and includes the cylindrical arm 21 which is embraced and actuated by the usual sleeve-headed pin 28 journaled in the crank-arm H. The needie-bar 2| is journaled in the frame-bushing 29 and is formed in its upper end with an axial hole 30 which is entered by the reduced lower end 3| of the guide-rod 32 fixed at its upper end in the head 4. The guide-rod 32 is of tubular form and is filled with lubricant absorbing wicking 33. An oil-feed-duct 34 leads from the lower end of the wick 33 through the reduced lower end 3| of the guide-rod 32 to the hole 30 in the needlebar 2| and lubricates the bearing surfaces between the needle-bar 2| and the guide-rod 32. The hollow pin 20 is in communication with the hole 30 in the needle-bar and receives oil from the needle-bar for lubrication of the lower end bearing of the link l9.

Mounted on and rotating with the main-shaft 1, within the gooseneck 2, 3, is an oil-reservoir comprising a cylindrical casing 34 through which the shaft 1 passes. Packing glands 35 at the opposite ends of the casing 34 constitute oil-tight seals and hold the casing 34 against slippage upon and relative to the shaft 1. The casing 34 has within it an oil-cavity 36 surrounding-the main-shaft 1,.which cavity may be supplied with oil through an opening closed by the removable filler screw plug 31. The main-shaft 1 has within it a longitudinal oil-duct 38 leading from a point within the reservoir casing 34 through the ball-bearing 5 to the needle-bar actuating crank I8. When the machine is running, the oil in "the reservoir is swirled around the shafts axis by centrifugal action and none enters the axial duct 38. When the machine is stopped, a small quantity of oil enters the duct 38 through the lateral oil-duct 39 and works its way along the duct 38 from which it flows through the oil-duct 40 in the crank |1 into the hollow crank-pin l8 from which the upper end-bearing of the link I9 and the take-up actuating crank-pin 28 are lubricated through suitable oil-distributing ducts. These parts have heretofore been 1111311! cated from the main-shaft sleeve-bearing adjacent the needle-bar actuating crank. The present expedient enables oil to be fed to the needle-bar and take-up crank-pins through an adjacent ball-bearing surrounding the mainshaft. Excess oil from the crank-pins |8Iand 28 collects in the oil-well 4| in the head 4 from which it is lifted by the wick 42 to the felt pad 43 which is engaged by the arm 21 of the vibratory take-up lever 25, 21, and lubricates such arm.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what I claim herein is:-

1. In a sewing machine, a hollow gooseneck, spaced ball-bearings mounted in said gooseneck, a needle-bar-actuating shaft journaled in said ball-bearings and having at one end a needlebar-actuating crank, an internally chambered cylindrical oil-tight reservoir surrounding and carried by said shaft within said hollow gooseneck and between said ball-bearings, and an oilduct leading from said oil-reservoir within and longitudinally of said shaft and through one 01' said ball-bearings to said crank.

2. In a sewing machine, a reciprocatory needlebar, a needle-bar actuating shaft, a crank on one end of said shaft connected to drive said needle-bar, a ball-bearing surrounding said shaft adjacent said crank, and an oil-reservoir surrounding the axis of and carried by said shaft to rotate with the latter, said shaft being formed with a longitudinal oil-duct leading from said 011- reservoir through said ball-bearing to said crank.

WALTER MYER. 

